Port lockout LOS ANGELES >> Plans for a lockout today at the nation's busiest port complex appeared to have been averted when dockworkers yesterday began re-staffing operations at a terminal where activity was frozen most of the week.
on coast averted
A cargo carrier threat
ends as more workers
arrive to unload shipsFrom staff and wire reports
Officials of the two shipping lines that carry most of the mainland-Hawaii cargo, CSX Lines and Matson Navigation Co., said there were no disruptions today and cargo was moving normally.
Matson had one containership, the Matsonia, leaving Oakland for Honolulu today and another, Chief Gadao, was taking on cargo at Los Angeles and is due to sail for Honolulu tomorrow.
CSX Lines, formerly Sea-Land Service, has its CSX Navigator scheduled to sail to Honolulu from Long Beach tomorrow. All operations are normal, CSX said.
Representatives of employers at West Coast ports had threatened to lock out as many as 5,000 workers without pay today, leaving millions of dollars of cargo on the docks because of a perceived work slowdown.
The Pacific Maritime Association, which has been negotiating a new contract with dockworkers since May, said a slowdown had crippled operations of one of its members, Stevedoring Services of America, at the Port of Long Beach.
Last night, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union provided enough workers to unload ships at the docks in Long Beach, the PMA said.
"This is a positive sign, and I am hopeful this signals that the ILWU and PMA will be able to work together toward a new coastwide contract," said Joe Miniace, president of the Pacific Maritime Association.
The ILWU, which represents the 10,500 full-time West Coast dockworkers, denied it had engaged in a slowdown.
ILWU spokesman Steve Stallone said the situation in Long Beach was the result of excess cargo and too few trained crane operators. He accused the PMA of manufacturing a crisis.
The PMA said it would suspend its planned shutdown of the Los Angeles and Long Beach port complex as long as operations continue at normal levels.
The PMA had accused the ILWU of withholding labor from Stevedoring Services' terminal since Monday, leaving thousands of containers unloaded and causing a traffic jam of trucks outside the complex.
In Hawaii, where about 95 percent of consumer goods and supplies come from the West Coast on ships, Gov. Ben Cayetano yesterday called it "a serious situation" for the islands.
"I think that we probably have enough stock in place in different kinds of categories to last us for a while, but if there's a strike and there's a long strike, there's no doubt it's going to hurt Hawaii," he said.
Cayetano said he has been discussing the dispute with officials of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union local in Hawaii.
"The read I get from the ILWU here is that they do not want to go on strike because they recognize that it will have a great impact on the economy, but it's the mainland national branch of the union that's going to make the decision," he said.
"If the West Coast goes on strike, it's only a matter of time before the union here has to follow suit, so it's a serious situation," Cayetano said.
The governor said the federal government should bring pressure on the union and management to continue talks.
"At some point, it may be appropriate for the president to look at it, but I think that as much as possible the president and governors should stay out of it and let the parties work it out," Cayetano said. "But when the community begins to suffer adversely, then I think something has to be done."
West Coast ports from San Diego to Seattle handle more than $300 billion worth of goods a year. Cargo ranges widely and includes automotive parts, toys, food and clothing.
The last contract expired July 1. Both sides had agreed to extend it on a 24-hour basis, until talks temporarily broke down Sept. 1.
Pacific Maritime Association
International Longshore and Warehouse Union
